Weird - Checking oil - Help what's gone wrong?

[Heff31]

I have a 2012 Vantage S V8 Roadster. I follow the usual guide for checking the oil ie check to ensure engine cold and at least some oil appears on the dipstick before doing the 20 seconds start-up to get the true reading. Heres's where it goes really weird...

I check 1st time from cold (car not started for over a week) and no oil on dip stick, so I top up...nothing... then add more oil until I get to half a litre extra oil added ...still nothing registering whatsoever on the dipstick ....so I keep going until just adding over 1 litre and still nothing... by this time I start to panic and think this cant be right.

So I then decide to do the 20 seconds start-up and check and of course the oil reading is way over max. so I then syphon/suck about 1litre backout to get it back to under max.

So the question is what the heck is going wrong?

I have followed the instructions according to the manual and now dont know now if I have enough oil?

Have I done any damage or am I ok now I have syphoned out the extra oil?

Any help gratefully received.

[Neil1300r]

You have to run the engine for 30+ seconds on the V8 vantage to get a correct reading. Its a semi dry sump, so won't have any reading on a cold engine.

[john ryan]

When the engine is stopped oil slowly drains down to the sump, so eventually the tank is empty. Once the engine is running oil is pumped out of the sump (this is the dry sump bit) to achieve a steady state level in the tank. The V8 is 'dry sump' to allow a lower bonnet line than would be the case with a conventional wet sump.

[Finding Neutral]

This catches so many people out, which is odd because it comes up a lot.

I guess people are used to wet sump cars huh.


Read the manual mate. Car needs to be run at 2k revs for 30 seconds. If the car is cold there won’t likely be any / much oil in the tank.

[Heff31]

Im just going by the manual section - 11.10 where it says to check first that some signs of oil is detected on the dipstick then go through the startup procedure.
I checked with dealer and I am doing right according to them, but they are concerned why nothing at all was registering even cold.

Edited by Heff31 on Tuesday 12th April 16:40

[Finding Neutral]

Heff31 said:

Im just going by the manual section - 11.10 where it says to check first that some signs of oil is detected on the dipstick then go through the startup procedure.
I checked with dealer and I am doing right according to them, but they are concerned why nothing at all was registering even cold.

Edited by Heff31 on Tuesday 12th April 16:40

Nor mine or my sisters vantages show much if anything on the stick when cold (usually when not been used for a while)

I would say it’s pretty common as the oil drains out of the tank?

It does strike me as odd that so many manuals seem to state slightly different info… good old Aston

[Arnold Cunningham]

Heff31 said:

Im just going by the manual section - 11.10 where it says to check first that some signs of oil is detected on the dipstick then go through the startup procedure.
I checked with dealer and I am doing right according to them, but they are concerned why nothing at all was registering even cold.

Edited by Heff31 on Tuesday 12th April 16:40

Maybe it was "very slightly" low in the first case - so needed a small topup. But wouldn't show on the stick until you've cycled the engine as per the manual?
So if you've put a little in, cycled the engine, checked the stick and it would have come up normal. Then let it drain down and "just the tip" would have now shown?

[Dewi 2]

Heff31 said:

I have a 2012 Vantage S V8 Roadster. I follow the usual guide for checking the oil ie check to ensure engine cold and at least some oil appears on the dipstick before doing the 20 seconds start-up to get the true reading. Heres's where it goes really weird... ....

You are not alone. I did exactly the same soon after buying my Vantage.

I am fairly sure that the confusion is caused by the User Manual.
Stating, 'at least some oil appears on the dipstick' is incorrect.
After a Vantage has been left unused for (say) a month, there will not be any oil appearing on the dipstick. It will have drained down.

I suppose it might be best to check the oil level more frequently, so that when starting again after an idle period, you already know that the level is correct, even though none appears on the dipstick. Obviously use the turnover first without firing procedure.

[Finding Neutral]

Dewi 2 said:

You are not alone. I did exactly the same soon after buying my Vantage.

I am fairly sure that the confusion is caused by the User Manual.
Stating, 'at least some oil appears on the dipstick' is incorrect.
After a Vantage has been left unused for (say) a month, there will not be any oil appearing on the dipstick. It will have drained down.

I suppose it might be best to check the oil level more frequently, so that when starting again after an idle period, you already know that the level is correct, even though none appears on the dipstick. Obviously use the turnover first without firing procedure.

Indeed, scarier still that the main dealer didn’t even know this